Tips For Building Mental Resilience
While resilience is often thought of as an inherent personality trait, there are ways to build resilience and find more effective ways of approaching challenges.
Psychological resilience refers to the ability to “bounce back” following stressful or disruptive situations. Resilience does not mean that a person doesn’t feel negative emotions, but rather, they are able to process and regulate these emotions effectively and return to a stable psychological state. Rather than bottling things up, resilient people communicate effectively with others about their challenges, helping them to move through these difficulties productively. Resilience is also associated with self-confidence – the more you believe in your abilities to handle adversity, the better you will cope. While resilience is often thought of as an inherent personality trait, there are ways to build resilience and find more effective ways of approaching challenges.
Stoicism
A resilient attitude relates to the theory of Stoicism – the idea that relying on our own strength of character is the most effective way to achieve happiness. This theory is based on the premise that we don’t have control over the things that happen to us, but we do have control over how we react and, in turn, how much we suffer. Focusing on our strengths can be a useful way to foster acceptance and find peace from within ourselves. The goal is not to invalidate legitimate negative reactions to truly difficult life circumstances, but to help us adjust our way of thinking to reduce some unnecessary mental suffering and build resilience.
Cognitive defusion
Much of our mental suffering stems from our thoughts – negative thoughts often come into our minds automatically and can influence how we feel. While it’s not usually possible to stop negative thoughts from occurring in the first place, we can decide how much we take on board. Cognitive defusion is a technique which helps us to separate ourselves from our thoughts – that is, to be aware of thoughts coming and going without having to react to them all the time. Practicing cognitive defusion can help to build resilience by allowing us to carry on through challenges despite having negative thoughts.
Cognitive defusion is a technique which helps us to separate ourselves from our thoughts – that is, to be aware of thoughts coming and going without having to react to them all the time.
Self-reflection
It’s natural to try and find someone or something to blame for when things don’t work out in life. However, the impact of our own actions and reactions are often overlooked. Even in situations that seem out of our hands, it can still be useful to reflect by thinking “what could I have done differently that might have changed that outcome or helped me to cope better?” This is not about blaming yourself – it is possible to show acceptance and compassion for your past behaviour, while also acknowledging how you can improve. Maintaining a belief that there is always room for personal learning and growth stimulates resilience.
Growth mindset
On the topic of growth, a growth mindset is the belief that things will get easier with practice or that persisting through difficulties will lead to better outcomes. This concept is built off research showing that students who believe that intelligence is changeable tend to have higher academic achievements compared to students who believe that intelligence is fixed. The belief that you can improve may be the very thing that leads to improvement. This is not about covering up challenges with a positive attitude, it’s about finding the right balance of persistence and flexibility – the ability to recognise when a particular challenge is worth pushing through, versus when a different approach or a change in objectives is needed. Effective and achievable goal setting is a skill that can be learned and can help foster a growth mindset. While it’s not a perfect solution to all circumstances, it can be helpful in combination with other strategies and supports.
The belief that you can improve may be the very thing that leads to improvement.
Support network and self-care
Having a strong support network is one of the biggest protections against mental health difficulties. Reaching out for help is often a key part of being resilient. Having at least one close person that you can confide in can be very valuable, although generally the more people you can add to your support network the better. Practicing self-care can also contribute to resilience – it’s difficult to bounce back if you are not taking care of your needs. See our blogs on self-care and talking about anxiety.
How can Mind Ease help?
Mind Ease includes an activity on stoic reflection to help you identify and cultivate your strengths to overcome challenges in your daily life. In addition, Mind Ease has activities for practicing self-compassion and cognitive defusion. Building up a range of strategies for managing mental health will contribute to your overall resilience.
